QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M -0.1md

Earthquake near South Hill, WA

USGS: 13 km NNE of Ashford, Washington

89 km (55 mi) SSE of Seattle, WA · 53 km (33 mi) SSE of Auburn, WA

2:59 am PDT, Sep 29, 2026 · · 2.4 km deep · released about 0.019 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pierce County 26 kmLewis County 45 kmThurston County 67 kmKing County 70 kmCowlitz County 93 kmSkamania County 93 kmKittitas County 101 kmKitsap County 101 kmYakima County 103 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
2:59 am PDT on 29 September 2026 ()
Where
39 km (24 mi) SE of South Hill, WA · earthquakes near South Hill
Magnitude
M -0.1 (md)
Depth
2.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pierce County, 26 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3 days ago

A magnitude -0.1 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) SE of South Hill, WA, at 2:59 am PDT on 29 September 2026 (09:59 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Eatonville, Crocker.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.019 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 0.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 810,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 51,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M -0.1 about 0.019 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 46.8643, -121.9518. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pierce County, WA 26 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Pierce County
Lewis County, WA 45 km (28 mi) SW earthquakes near Lewis County
Thurston County, WA 67 km (42 mi) W earthquakes near Thurston County
King County, WA 70 km (44 mi) N earthquakes near King County
Cowlitz County, WA 93 km (58 mi) SW earthquakes near Cowlitz County
Skamania County, WA 93 km (58 mi) S earthquakes near Skamania County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

7 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 0.9 2 km SW of Ashford, Washington
  2. 0.5 13 km SE of Carbonado, Washington
  3. 0.3 15 km SSE of Carbonado, Washington
  4. 0.1 16 km NNE of Ashford, Washington
  5. 0.4 2 km SSE of Carbonado, Washington
  6. 0.7 6 km E of Ashford, Washington
  7. -0.2 7 km E of Ashford, Washington

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.